Here is KR all settled into her home for the next few months at Captain John’s marina, her new sun covers looking good and, more importantly, keeping much of the rain and tropical sun off her decks.

And, here are the numbers for KR’s sixth cruise:

Miles Logged: 2483
Engine Hours: 83
Length of Cruise: 8-9 months (depending how you count it)

This was our shortest cruise together. Our first five cruises were all one year in length. The reality of staying south is that it is wise not to be too far from safe places while hurricane season is still in full swing and it is just as wise to duck back into safety before the season comes again – so only 9 months this time.

The miles were also low – even relative to the length of the cruise. I didn’t wander around much – moving the boat to a new place, settling in and doing my exploring by land, dink, kayak or whatever.

The engine hours are incredibly low. I had good winds for sailing on all but 2 jumps so Becky Westerbeke got plenty of time off. That is a good thing.

It was a good cruise as well with the juxtaposition of the big city of Cartagena relative to the rustic San Blas Islands, the diving of Bonaire and a canal transit on Field Trip as highlights.

My current life (at least until I head home to Colorado for a visit in around 4 weeks) is all about boat projects – lots of little ones, of course and with the big projects moving forward.

At this point, all of the teak surrounding the companionway, including the slide, the turtle and all other trim pieces have been removed, the Cetol stripped (there is no more Cetol on KR anywhere – Yea!) and the first sanding done. There are repairs needed (not very extensive, thankfully), epoxying to do and lots of coats of varnish to be applied.

The other big projects this year?

The mast will be pulled and the mast step, which has seeped water into the compression post for some time, removed, replaced and sealed – along with whatever else is found along the way.

The boat will be hauled and what little remains of the two coats of Seahawk anti-fouling paint applied just 9 months ago, removed. A coat of primer and two new coats of a different brand of antifouling paint will then be applied. Needless to say, this is NOT a project about which I am happy.

Finally, binnacle components with corrosion issues will be removed and taken to the US for prep and powder coating. This is another premature redo of a project done just 2-1/2 years ago. Hopefully this attempt will last a bit longer.

So there is plenty to do and plenty to keep the old sailor out of the bars – at least during the day.

Best to all.